IceStorm 98 Study

Tackaberry and Sons Construction have been in business since 1957. They operate from their main office in Athens and have offices in Perth, Seeleys Bay and Jasper. There are 50 full time employees which expand up to 150 during their busy season.

Around 1:00 a.m. on the morning of January 8, KT started getting calls from the township requesting equipment to remove trees and debris from the roads.

In Athens, several hydro crews were attempting to re-attach fallen lines and the utilities trucks were clearing the roads.

As daylight approached he was inundated with calls from farmers looking for generators to power their milking machines. Charles Nichols arrived at 6:00 a.m. and rigged up a generator which he took and toured the area helping several farmers with their milking. Three additional generators were sent around the community and passed on from farmer to farmer.

Over the next couple of days, Tackaberry Construction assisted the county wherever it was needed, from sanding and salting roads, to providing large equipment to remove debris.

As shelters were being established in Brockville, Kevin was called upon to provide two large 600 amp three phase generators in order to maintain heat and power at the shelters.

A critical shortage of fuel was developing as emergency vehicles were stopping at Tackaberry’s to fill their tanks. He had hooked up a generator to his pumps and had Bell trucks, county roads vehicles and his own trucks to fuel up. His own supplier promised him delivery and if necessary he would send a tractor trailer up to supply him. KT estimated that he had pumped 30,000 litres of gasoline over a two day period.
As the batteries in the Bell offices deteriorated, KT had his crew drop by with generators to recharge the batteries until Bell was able to provide their own generators.

On the 18th of January around 4:30 p.m. as KT was about to send everyone home, he received a call from Rideau Regional Hospital in Smiths Falls. Power was out and the backup generator had failed. At that time, Rideau Regional had served as a shelter and was accommodating up to 800 people who would have to be evacuated if power could not be restored . KT got a trailer out of the ice and loaded a generator for delivery to Smiths Falls and had power back on that evening..

Since the generators run on fuel, KT had his fuel trucks constantly on the roads refilling tanks throughout the county.
In accordance with Kevin’s instructions, a couple of men were moving out among the community pumping out basements.

Power had been maintained by generators at Tackaberry’s throughout the emergency. Equipment was being repaired, fuel was being pumped and supplies were made available to those in need.
The company office became a community centre of sorts as Kevin’s mother Joan, his sister June Knapp and Karen Fitzpatrick had set up a kitchen to feed their own staff and anybody who stopped by. Word spread as Bell and Hydro workers stopped by for a much needed bowl of hot soup and a few sandwiches and a hot cup of coffee.

Tackaberry’s two way radio was used extensively by authorities and individuals to reach each other since phone lines were still down.

The snowmobile club in Athens was designated as the local shelter and the community did what it could to ensure that food and other essentials were provided. As an example of the widespread generosity, the local grocery store owner cooked up to two turkeys a day for the shelter.

The local fire station organized a door to door campaign to ensure that people were safe.

Due to the foresight of some officials, the retirement home in Athens had a backup generator which maintained power and allowed them to continue without interruption.

As far as recovering his costs was concerned, KT said that the company did not experience any difficulty. He operated on a cost-only basis in most cases. There were, of course, instances when equipment was provided on the basis of charity, but on the whole people insisted on paying their fair share of the expense. Municipalities assured him that since they were to receive emergency funding from the various levels of government, there would be no difficulty in recovering his expenses on their behalf.

The Toronto Star was up in Athens to speak to the community and Kevin’s father happened to be at the local restaurant at the time. They were told that they had to talk to George Tackaberry, who subsequently appeared as the main feature in their January 18th issue covering the ice storm.